Presbyterian Church hails govt on Ebola

The Presbyterian Church of Nigeria has hailed the proactive response of the federal and state governments to the Ebola virus.

But it said it wants measures to ensure that the disease is contained and eradicated.

The church, in a communiqué at the end of its biennial General Assembly in Calabar, Cross River State, urged government to ensure that there was surveillance at the entry points into the country so that no new cases of the epidemic would be recorded.

It called for the production and supply of experimental drugs for those already infected.

The communiqué, signed by the Prelate and Moderator of the General Assembly, Prof. Emele Mba Uka and the newly-elected Principal Clerk, Rev. Eseme David William, welcomed the Federal Government’s initiative in setting up a special fund in aid of victims of the Boko Haram insurgency and other social upheavals.

The church also set up a fund toward the rehabilitation of the Chibok girls when they are eventually rescued, saying this was in keeping with its spirit of Christian charity and in support of the President’s initiative.

But it lamented the “seeming inability of the government to rescue the abducted girls and contain the Boko Haram insurgency.”

On power supply, the church noted that despite government’s efforts at improving power supply by privatising the sector, power outages were still the order of the day in almost all parts of the country.

It said: “It is embarrassing that consumers are paying heavily for the services not rendered. Government should put in place an effective mechanism to ensure creditable performance by the registered distribution companies. The Federal Government should set a timeline when Nigerians and corporate manufacturing consumers will get value for the privatisation of the energy sector.”